"Once upon a time in a far away kingdom, a man made up a story, said that I should believe him..."

Thought I'd post something a little bit lighter for a change ^_^

So, I love fairy tales. This should come as no surprise to any of you who know me. And recently NBC and ABC have continued their war of the channels to bring us all two very different takes on modern retellings of fairy tales.

Let's start with ABC's 'Once Upon a Time'. I was very excited when I first heard this was coming on--like, ridiculously excited. I am a huge Robert Carlyle fan, and I was giddy when I heard he'd be playing Rumpelstiltskin.

The basic premise of the show is that the Evil Queen took all the fairy tale characters and blasted them into 'another world', where they would be miserable forever because there were no happy endings. This world just happened to be modern day Canada Maine. (not really sure this is helping Maine's standing as a tourist destination--thanks, ABC) Now the original characters, Emma Swan (who is Snow White's long-lost daughter) and her son Henry must team up to remind everyone who they are and give them back their happily ever afters.

So you have all these 'classic' characters thrust into modern day lives--Granny runs an inn, Cinderella is an abandoned teenage mom, Snow White teaches at the local Catholic school. Jiminy Cricket is the local therapist.
Okay, so the inclusion of Jiminy Cricket is where I facepalmed and remembered that ABC is owned by Disney. 'Mr Hopper' also owns a dalmation. Named Pongo, one can only assume. *sigh*
But aside from the blatant disney references, I really like this show. The character's alter-egos are usually well thought out, the acting is good, the sets and locations are lovely and mostly true to life. At first I thought that the Snow/Queen relationship was typically shallow and pretty standard, but from the hints they keep dropping, I'm holding out hope for something twisted and original.

However, it does fall into some pretty serious tropes. The biggest one is that it tends to be a little soap opera-y. Prince Charming is married to another woman, so he and Snow White have to hold back their feelings for each other because it's not right, but they just can't stop themselves! I find this fine in small doses, but when it's a main thread in several episodes, it kinda gets old. Or maybe I'm just a cynic. Another is that the Wicked Queen is always being Wicked and thwarting the main character Emma--just for the sake of being a nasty bitch? I dunno. Luckily for the show, the writers smartened up to this and have cut back on it thus far.

I'll admit, too, that I spent the entire first episode swinging from admiration to hysterical laughter and Monty Python jokes.  I mean, just look at how they portray the Blue Fairy!


Clearly, the Boob Fairy was a big fan of hers.


The Seven Dwarfs, as well--realizing they were all really going to have their disney names was another facepalming moment for me...but the real kicker was the eighth dwarf, whose appeared just long enough to get offed--'Stealthy'.

*crickets chirp*

 

No, seriously... Stealthy the dwarf. He wore black. And a beret. And really just looked like one of Doctor Evil's henchmen.
I do have to give them some credit, though--in the Real!World scenario, Grumpy is the town drunk.  :D
　


On to the next show--NBC's 'Grimm'.
I must say, I love love love this show's concept. In this one, (set consistantly in the Real!World of Portland Oregon) The main character, Nick, finds out he is a Grimm--related to the Brothers Grimm, who apparently went around slaying the 'monsters' that they put in their fairy tales. When his mysterious Aunt dies, he inheirits the full list of Grimm abilities, which include the power to spot the creatures for what they are, instead of the human form they ususally take. Nick also gets his Aunt's sweet slaying-trailer full of monster-offing goodies, including this old book full of information on the different species. In the first episode, we meet Monroe, who is a reformed 'Blutbad', or big bad wolf. Monroe then becomes Nicks 'Grimmopedia' and go-to guy for all the monsters that are suddenly running around in Portland.



Monroe and Nick--
Ladies and Gentlemen, let the slash begin.

 Congrats to the writers for finding a new twist to put on these old stories, most of which were pretty gory and grim in their own right. The monster book (of monsters?) and the trailer-of-slaying are pretty awesome, as are the dark takes on popular creature-characters. The werewolves Blutbaden, for instance, lose control around the color red, especially if there is a little girl wearing it. (brilliant job making that a really, really creepy implication, btw)

However, Grimm falls into the same trap a lot of tv shows do--much like Smallville, Supernatural, and House; the monster-of-the-week syndrome. Since Nick has become a Grimm, it seems like all the havok in good old Portland is wreaked by these creatures. We're eight or nine episodes in now, and only once has a crime been purpotrated by a good old human being. The main theme is at an impasse, while the subplots advance with a vengence--Nick Doesn't Know his boss is a Bad Guy, Grim Reapers are closing in, and for all that his Aunt told him not to leave the Mysterious!Key out of his sight, he seems to have forgotten all about it. Nevermind, I'm sure it'll come in handy in the season finale.



Sadly, thus far none of the Reapers look like Mandy Patinkin.



The acting is, for the most part, 100% okay. Or, most likely, it's the writing that is just-barely-par, and the actors are the ones suffering from it.  Still, I keep coming back to this show for the fascinating ideas it throws out--I think once this show has gotten a foothold and more of a sense of itself, it could be really brilliant.
(and I come back for Monroe.  Because he is just awesome.)


Both shows have their good points, and both have their cheesy moments--I've predicted more than a few lines in each of them, which generally means the writers are being a little too typical in their dialogue choices--but despite that, I keep coming back for more. And what else does television aim for, really?